ARCHIVE

MORE

Hillsboro wrestling Coach Scott O’Hare said inexperience led to the team’s defeat at a double dual with Halstead and Minneapolis Dec. 3. The young team fell to Minneapolis 53-18 and Halstead 33-30.

“As expected, these opening duals helped give us an early indication of where we stand, as both Hallstead and Minneapolis have traditionally had some talented and experienced wrestlers,” he said. “It was great to go into a set of duals filling 12 of the 14 weight classes, however we were still in for a huge challenge as eight of the 12 were freshmen or sophomores, with six who were seeing their first ever high school varsity action at this meet.”

O’Hare said despite all eight freshmen losing their matches, they all gained valuable varsity experience that will prepare them for future meets. Due to Minneapolis and Hallstead’s line up, the teams more experienced wrestlers, Jesse Meier at 170 lbs. and Levi Mendoza at 182 lbs., had matches, and Jon Carey had only one match.

Preston Nelson suffered an injury in his match against Minneapolis and was unable to wrestle against Halstead. Cody Delk was the only varsity upperclassman to have matches in both duals.

Many of the mistakes were due to inexperience and unfamiliarity with some positions, and fundamental mistakes, said O’Hare.

“We were not disciplined in remaining in a good solid stance or in good position throughout the match,” he said. “We have to get better at staying in good position with our head, hands, and hips, and constantly moving in a way that keeps the opponent off balance.”

O’Hare said he will continue to drill the team on the fundamentals and work up to advanced techniques.

“I felt like overall we battled through and wrestled hard throughout almost every match, although in instances we were simply out-manned, the guys never backed down, they just need to gain more experience and confidence,” he said. “I believe this group will use Thursday’s matches as a learning experience and work hard to improve on the mistakes. I still believe we have good things ahead it will just take productive practice time and hard work.”